Glenn Guilbeau: LSU should've hired Jones a long time ago

LSU's Johnny Jones has his Tigers playing inspired basketball in his first season as head coach.

BATON ROUGE - There was Dale Brown on Saturday afternoon on the Pete Maravich Assembly Center court, which should be named after him as soon as possible by the way, looking about 10 or 15 years better than his 77 years and beaming as proudly as possible.

His 1977-78 team had been honored earlier in the day for its shocking upset of No. 1 Kentucky 35 years ago this month on that same court. The Tigers had entered that game 13-7 overall and 7-4 in the Southeastern Conference against a 17-1 and 9-1 Kentucky team that beat LSU 96-76 in Rupp Arena a month prior and had won eight in a row against the Tigers.

All five of Brown's starters fouled out, but he but still managed to beat the Wildcats 95-94 in overtime.

Kentucky and coach Joe B. Hall had come into town with future first-round picks Rick Robey at center and Jack "Goose" Givens at guard-forward, but they could not hold off LSU center Lionel Green, forwards Rudy Macklin and DeWayne Scales, guard Jordy Hultberg and others. The Wildcats would not lose again, winning 13 straight, including a 94-88 victory against Duke for the national championship as Givens scored 41. It was the Wildcats' first national title since Adolph Rupp had retired.

LSU finished 18-9 and 12-6 in the SEC for third in the league - its highest finish since 1971. At the time, the NCAA tournament took only 32 teams, so LSU stayed home. But Brown and LSU took off for basically the next 15 years, reaching 13 NCAA tournaments from 1979 through 1993, including 10 straight, with two Final Fours, two Elite Eights and four SEC championships.

And many believed it all started with that win against Kentucky, which would lose three straight to the Tigers and six of its next eight. Never before or since has LSU dominated Kentucky in such fashion. Before Brown, LSU had defeated Kentucky only twice. Brown beat the Blue Bloods 18 times, including in the Southeast Regional championship game in 1986 to get to the Final Four.

After the festivities for that watershed win, Brown watched his prized pupil Johnny Jones coach the Tigers to an equally thrilling, 97-94 victory over Alabama in the first triple overtime men's game in the four decades of the Assembly Center. None of Jones' players fouled out, and Alabama was not even ranked. But the Tigers did trail by 10 points with less than 3 minutes to play, and Alabama did come in No. 2 in the SEC at 10-3 and 18-8 overall.

The Tigers won their sixth game of eight and improved to 16-9 and 7-7 in the SEC. Few thought they would have 16 or 7 at this point, and the Tigers have four regular season games left. LSU has a decent shot of finishing 18-11 and 9-9, which should warrant Jones SEC Coach of the Year mention.

Apparently, the Hustlers are back. Jones won Saturday and several other times this season with less talent as Brown often did, particularly during NCAA tournament runs in 1986, '87, and '93. Jones was there for most of Brown's crowning achievements. He was a backup guard on the 1981 Final Four team that finished 31-5 and won the SEC with a 17-1 mark. He was an assistant on the 1985 SEC championship team, the 1986 Final Four team and the 1987 Elite eight team that came within two free throws of back-to-back Final Fours. Jones was next to Brown for the 1991 SEC championship team with Shaquille O'Neal, Stanley Roberts and Chris Jackson and two more NCAA tournaments with Shaq and one with Geert Hammink, whose son Shane plays for Jones now.

Jones' team plays a lot like most of Brown's teams - fast and high scoring with hustle and opportunistic defenses that tend to "freak" opponents. It's fun to watch, and people are gradually returning to the Assembly Center. There were 8,200 - a good crowd this century - on a beautiful Saturday with LSU coming off a loss, below .500 in the SEC and neither team ranked.

Jones knows how to recruit like his mentor, too. He has three highly recruited prospects joining the program next year, including McDonald's All-American forward Jarell Martin. His first complete recruiting class may produce as many quality players as his predecessor could in four years. And unlike that predecessor's predecessor, Jones had to leave a 50-mile radius of his house to get them.

Jones was also there when Brown's program descended to four straight losing seasons overall and in the SEC and broke NCAA rules that put the program on probation, crippling it for years. This could end up being a good experience for Jones, too. He could well have learned what to do and what not to do.

But then Brown has always known this. He has been saying for years to hire Jones. And he was right.

Considering the start Jones has had, there is no telling how far along LSU's basketball program might be now had he been hired in 2008. March Madness might just be a routine condition "» as it was when it was Brown's court.

Twitter: @LSUBeatTweet

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Glenn Guilbeau: LSU should've hired Jones a long time ago

BATON ROUGE ? There was Dale Brown on Saturday afternoon on the Pete Maravich Assembly Center court, which should be named after him as soon as possible by the way, looking about 10 or 15 years

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